Friday, September 13, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

Here is another great apple recipe to try while the apples are in season!

This recipe card for Apple Flake Crunch was handwritten on an index card, mixed up in a modest collection of recipes (some dating back to the 1940s). It’s age is unknown.

Friday, September 6, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

When apples are in season, I usually buy a bunch and make applesauce. It's so delicious when it's warm, straight from the pot. I can the rest for enjoying the rest of the year.

This recipe for Applesauce Cake is a great way to use your applesauce! It was handwritten in beautiful blue script on both sides of an index card. The recipe card is not dated, however other cards from the same collection with the same script in the same blue pen were found with dates on them from 1941. The upper right corner notes the recipe came from Family Circle.

Friday, August 30, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

This recipe for Uncooked Tomato Relish was handwritten in pencil on the back side of an index card that had been darkened with time. The reverse side has the recipe for "Chili Sauce". This recipe card was found in a small red metal recipe file box worn with age. The recipe is dated “Dec 19 – 42”.

The recipe has no information beyond “Pour into hot jars”. Pouring your food into hot jars and allowing the jars to seal on their own with no type of processing is call the “Open Kettle Method”. This method is no longer considered safe.

From the National Center For Home Food Preservation website:Why is open kettle canning not recommended?
In open kettle canning, food is cooked in an ordinary kettle, then packed into hot jars and sealed without processing. The temperatures obtained in open kettle canning are not high enough to destroy all spoilage and food poisoning organisms that may be in the food. Also, microorganisms can enter the food when it is transferred from the kettle to jar and cause spoilage.

I recommend you refrigerate or freeze your tomato relish. If you choose to make this recipe and can it, PLEASE use an approved canning method.
The original recipe has been scanned and is transcribed below. It can be printed for use in your own home kitchen. Enjoy!

CAUTION:This is a vintage canning recipe. Canning methods and procedures are continuously being updated as new foods are tested and safer methods are developed. The methods and procedures in this recipe may be very outdated. Following unsafe canning practices can result in food spoilage, mold and the growth of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum which can cause botulism—a deadly form of food poisoning. I urge you to visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation website (http://nchfp.uga.edu/) for the most updated safety information for food preservation. Compare this recipe to their safe, tested recipes and make adjustments as necessary to ensure you are canning a safe product for your family.

Please Note: Every effort has been made to transcribe these old recipe cards completely and accurately. Many have faded, are stained, or simply do not include every step or tool used in the process. We have changed the wording in some places and added instruction in others to make the text a bit clearer. We do not test or verify all the information found on these old cards. If you choose use the information found here, please know that you do so at your own risk.

Tomato Relish

ingredients:

instructions:

Peel tomatoes and onions.

Chop vegetables.

Let stand overnight.

Drain. Add remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

Pour into hot jars.*

NOTES:

Original recipe is dated December 19, 1942
I believe "1 pk Ripe Tomatoes" means "1 peck Ripe tomatoes". 1 Peck = is 1/ 4 bushel or 2 gallons, dry measure. The number of tomatoes will depend on their size but will weigh approximately 12 - 15 lbs.
White mustard seeds are the same thing as yellow mustard seeds. They are a light tan in color.
*The recipe has no information beyond “Pour into hot jars”. Pouring your food into hot jars and allowing the jars to seal on their own with no type of processing is call the “Open Kettle Method”. This method is no longer considered safe. Please refer to the National Center for Home Food Preservation website at http://nchfp.uga.edu for the latest information on safe canning recipes, methods and procedures.
CAUTION: This is a vintage canning recipe. Canning methods and procedures are continuously being updated as new foods are tested and safer methods are developed. The methods and procedures in this recipe may be very outdated. Following unsafe canning practices can result in food spoilage, mold and the growth of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum which can cause botulism—a deadly form of food poisoning. I urge you to visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation website (http://nchfp.uga.edu/) for the most updated safety information for food preservation. Compare this recipe to their safe, tested recipes and make adjustments as necessary to ensure you are canning a safe product for your family.

Friday, August 23, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

This recipe for Ranger Cookies looks really tasty, chock full of goodies like oatmeal and cornflakes and coconut. It almost sounds like a breakfast bar!

Friday, August 16, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

This recipe for Sloppy Joes is quick and easy to make on a weeknight when schedules are usually rushed and chaotic. I was intrigued by this recipe because usually sloppy joe recipes call for canned tomato sauce, tomato paste, or some other pre-made/canned ingredient. Aside from the Worcestershire sauce, this one does not.

Friday, August 9, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

With kids heading back to school, this recipe for No-Bake Coconut Chocolate Drop Cookies comes in handy! It makes a nice addition to lunchboxes or a welcome after-school treat! It's so easy to make, the children can even help make it! Be sure to cook the sugar mixture for the full three minutes or your cookies may wind up too soft!

This recipe was handwritten on a double sized decorative recipe card. It was found in an old large recipe file box. The age of the recipe card is unknown.

Friday, August 2, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

This recipe for Beets (which appears to be pickled beets) was handwritten on a 3x5 index card. It was found in an old large recipe file box. The age of the recipe card is unknown.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

The temps have just been creeping upwards ever since we got our delivery of dirt.

Initially, I tried to get out to the garden for a couple hours everyday to move that dirt. Then the temps rose a bit more and I'd head to the community garden early in the morning. But more often then not, by 10am it was HOT! The last half of the month, I only got down there about every other day.

I had a helper early on to move dirt, a neighbor volunteer. The Boy also came out to help me move dirt one day. But I've still got a menacing pile, though it is much, much smaller than it was 4 weeks ago.

The problem isn't really moving it. If all I had to do was fill the beds with perfect planting soil, it would be so much easier. The problem is mixing the sandy loam in with the clay soil that is already in the garden beds. I am also adding in manure and peat moss.

Mixing all of this together by hand is taking SO LONG. And the heat doesn't help. I find I am much more productive when the skies are overcast and there is a nice breeze.

I will be SO happy when this dirt is all moved from the parking lot and I can start to clean up the mess in the garden and build stuff with the donated lumber.

We still don't have the water situation worked out yet so I am still having to bring in water for the irises. They're not really growing tall, but I do hope they are building strong, deep roots.

Mr L.H. helped me again on Free Mulch Day. We managed to get 2 loads. We dumped the excess in a pile on some cardboard off to the side.

I'll go through it quickly enough. There is only one more Free Mulch Day this year so I hope I can manage to get all I need to cover areas and prevent weed growth until next spring.

One day at the garden I saw a delivery truck across the street dropping off some new appliances. The driver was happy to hand me the huge cardboard boxes.

They'll work well underneath some new planting beds or under the mulch.

ICK ALERT!!!

Speaking of mulch, one of the planting beds had been the storage spot for mulch since April. Of course, I had to empty it out so I could fill it in with dirt. Well, I found loads (and loads and loads) of big, fat grubs buried all in the mulch.

It was insane how many there were! I'd move aside some mulch and there would be half a dozen in a small 7x7" space!(shivers)

I must have pulled hundreds out of that mulch pile!(shivers again)

I couldn't find anything about whether they (or their future evolved selves) were beneficial or not so I erred on the side of caution. I left them out for the birds to eat.

So, progress is still being made, though much more slowly than I had hoped this month. Everything is pretty much on hold until all the dirt is moved from the parking lot into the garden area.

DISCLOSURE:This post may contain affiliate links. I earn from qualified purchases. Thank you for supporting Little House In Colorado.

Friday, July 26, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

This recipe for Oatmeal Drop Cookies was handwritten in beautiful blue script on both sides of an index card. The recipe card is dated 8/8/41.

Friday, July 19, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

This recipe for Chicken Chow Mein was handwritten on both sides of an index card. It was found in an old large recipe file box. The age of the recipe card is unknown.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

My poor garden. It's been a bit neglected since I've been spending so much time working at the community garden.

One day I looked and my cucumber plants had grown about 2 feet! And I still didn't have anything for them to climb! It was time to remedy that.

A neighbor moved recently and was giving things away out of their garage. I picked up a bunch of lumber for the community garden, but also snagged lots of 1/2" PVC pipes. They were about to be put to good use.

My cucumber plants are all in planters at the base of my deck. I knew I couldn't sink the pipes into the planter dirt because it was too shallow and wouldn't be able to support the weight of the plants. I opted to make a "tent" of sorts with a rectangular base for stability and the trellis posts coming up from that.

I had plenty of 1/2" PVC...much more than I needed. I chose 3 long pieces and cut them to the same length. Then I chose 2 more pieces for the upright supports and made sure they were cut to the same length (I used a hacksaw to make the cuts...it was quick and easy).

My upright pieces were about 4 feet long.
My three cross pieces were about 5 feet long.
I also cut 4 shorter lengths to 11". These would form the short sides of the rectangular base (2 on each side).

Of course, if you decide to make this, your dimensions will probably be different depending on the space you're making it for.

I picked up connector pieces and poly string at the hardware store. The 90° elbow connectors were only about 39 cents each. The Tee connectors were $1.50 each. For both of these, be sure to get the kind that is NOT threaded. And the poly string (twisted mason line #36) was just of $5. I probably used about half of this 230 ft roll. You can, of course, opt for a natural fiber twine. This was not an ideal choice for my climate.

My poor zucchini is wilting in the sun!

Once all the lengths of PVC are cut and the connectors purchased, it's just a matter of fitting everything together. I didn't glue them together because I wanted to be able to easily take it apart for storage. If you choose not to glue it, be sure you press the pieces together tightly to make sure they are securely attached. You don't want your trellis falling apart when you try to move it.

Adding the string:

I pulled out my stash of eye screws and cup hooks to try to determine the best way to add string to my trellis. I wound up using eye screws along both sides of the bottom support...10 on one side and 9 on the other, spaced evenly.

If you have trouble screwing the eye screws in, a handy tip is to use a screwdriver.

I also placed 2 cup hooks on either end of the top piece to secure my string. Thread the entire piece and tie it off before cutting it loose from the string roll. This way, you wind up with one long piece of string. I made sure to leave enough on the end to be able to tie it off on the two cup hooks.

And that's it! Now, I just needed to place around my cucumber planters.

I still have the shade cloth draped over everything to protect from the harsh sun and possible hail (It works well for smaller pea to dime sized hail but not anything larger).

Mr. LH wanted to grow corn this year so that's what we have on the deck in our Earthboxes.

Now my cucumbers can grow up the trellis instead of in tangled clumps near the ground. I may need to adjust the trellis if I find the weight of the plants requires more support but that would just require a few more connectors and a couple more pvc pipes to create another upright section in the middle.

I'm thinking I may need to make several similar contraptions to help cover & protect plants in the raised beds of the community garden...

DISCLOSURE:This post may contain affiliate links. I earn from qualified purchases. Thank you for supporting Little House In Colorado.

Friday, July 12, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

This recipe for Cherry Casserole Cake has extra cherry goodness with cherry pie filling in the cake AND served on top! Try this recipe with other fruit pie fillings. It’d probably be tasty with any of them – peach, apple, blueberry…

Please note there is NO ADDED SUGAR in this recipe. There is only the sweetness that comes from the pie filling. Mr. LH didn't have a problem with this, especially with a scoop of ice cream on top. but I was hoping for more of a sweet taste, perhaps similar to a coffee cake.

The recipe was handwritten on both sides of a piece of 3x5″ scrap paper (sized perfectly to fit a small recipe box). It was found in an old large double sided recipe file box. The age of the recipe is unknown. See more recipes from this collection!

The original recipe has been scanned and is transcribed below. It can be printed for use in your own home kitchen. Enjoy!

Please Note: Every effort has been made to transcribe these old recipe cards completely and accurately. Many have faded, are stained, or simply do not include every step or tool used in the process. We have changed the wording in some places and added instruction in others to make the text a bit clearer. We do not test or verify all the information found on these old cards. If you choose use the information found here, please know that you do so at your own risk.

Monday, July 8, 2019

It seems like it took FOR-E-VER but we finally have dirt at the community garden!

It's actually a sandy loam/compost mix that can be mixed with the existing clay soil and amended with other things.

I brought my wheelbarrow to deal with the pile but since I was having to shovel the dirt from the wheelbarrow and into planting beds, the wheelbarrow turned out to be really inefficient. I could go a lot faster with my new yard cart and three 5-gallon buckets. I could fill the buckets at the pile, roll to the planting bed and empty the buckets.

It is a massive pile and I did manage to get some help for this part of the project. Still...it's going to take a while...

DISCLOSURE:This post may contain affiliate links. I earn from qualified purchases. Thank you for supporting Little House In Colorado.

Friday, July 5, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

This recipe for Boston Baked Beans uses a crock pot for all the cooking. Plan ahead because you will need to soak the beans all night and cook them all day.

Sunday, June 30, 2019

It still counts as a June update even if I get to it on the very last day of June, right?

I didn't spend much time at the community garden during the first 2 weeks of June, but a LOT has happened there since my last update.

All the planting beds have been completed. They have their repairs made, their coats of stain and their little house numbers added so they can be assigned to neighbors (and the numbers really seemed to give the planting beds a nice "finished" look).

The irises were planted in their new homes on Memorial Day weekend. I've been bringing jugs of water from home to water them and they seem to be doing well. They've even started sprouting some new leaves.

It's pretty late in the season already for them to bloom. The ones I have at home are finished for the year, but I hope these will have planting of time to settle in and be strong and ready to show off next year.

A neighbor volunteered to help rebuild the lock boxes which were damaged early last month. Although mostly rebuilt from scrap wood, the new lids are stronger, more sturdy and now have handles to make it easier to open and chain to keep them open while we retrieve whatever it is we need.

I'm still taking advantage of the free mulch from the city. Mr. LH and I got 3 loads on the most recent free mulch day and I've been spreading it to try to limit the weeds that have been popping up everywhere. We've only got 2 more free mulch days left this year (one in July and one in August) and I plan on taking advantage of both of them!

We had some pretty big downpours which made the sides of the planting beds filthy where the dirt in the pea gravel would splash back up onto the sides of the beds.

Yuck!

Where the mulch was placed, the planting bed stayed nice and clean.

Much better!

Moving wagons and wheelbarrows through mulch might be difficult, so I'm trying some path options.

Work in progress...

The excess rain hasn't helped with the weed situation. I've been pulling them constantly, only to find new ones when I come back the next day. Luckily, I have help in disposing of them...

I put out a call in the neighborhood and surrounding areas for lumber and landscaping donations last week. The response was fantastic and has been keeping my very busy going back and forth picking up items from neighbors and dropping them off at the garden!

One of many loads of donations!

The garden now looks like a small lumber yard, but it means I can finish the edging, make trellises and tomato cages and it looks like we'll have enough lumber now to rebuild the last planting bed AND make a picnic table!

We also received about 45 stepping stones and some really nice landscaping stone. I'm trying to fashion an area for a table with those using whatever rocks and gravel I can scrounge up.

It's been slow going. With temps in the 90's and the sun beating down, I've only been able to work on it for about an hour and a half at a time before I need to find some shade or air conditioning.

We finally got the locks on the water sources changed only to find out no one remembered where to turn on the water to the garden. We're still working on this.

The best news yet...after weeks and weeks of delays and waiting, the roofing company finished the neighborhood homes and vacated the garden parking lot. That means I can finally have the soil delivered! It's being dropped off tomorrow so I'll have a pretty busy week ahead trying to get those planting beds filled.

DISCLOSURE:This post may contain affiliate links. I earn from qualified purchases. Thank you for supporting Little House In Colorado.

Friday, June 28, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

Friday, June 21, 2019

I'm digging into old recipe boxes and rediscovering the family favorites hidden inside! You'll find carefully handwritten recipe cards, newspapers and magazines clippings and even some hastily scrawled directions on scraps of paper, all from years (and years) ago! They're all getting scanned and transcribed so you can enjoy them in your own home kitchen.

Nothing says "summer" to me more than citrus flavors - lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit. This Lemon Filling fit's the bill perfectly! It works well spread between cake layers or piped into cupcake or doughnut centers. It can even be used as a filling for thumbprint cookies and toaster pastries or as a dip for shortbread cookies.

This recipe makes enough lemon filling to spread between 2 round cake layers. It was handwritten on an index card. It is part of a modest collection of old recipes cards. The age of this recipe card is unknown.